Brexit: MPs must vote before article can be triggered, court rules

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Britain cannot start the process of leaving the European Union without a vote in parliament, the high court in London has ruled. The court found that the government needs the approval of MPs before triggering article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which starts formal exit negotiations.

The decision is a major blow to Theresa May, who has promised to trigger article 50 by the end of next March, and Downing Street confirmed that the government will appeal.

“The Government is disappointed by the court’s judgment. The country voted to leave the European Union in a referendum approved by Act of Parliament. And the Government is determined to respect the result of the referendum. We will appeal this judgment,” a government spokesperson said.

The supreme court will hear an appeal next month but if the high court decision is upheld, Ms May will face serious parliamentary hurdles before she can start formal Brexit talks. Two thirds of MPs, including a majority of Conservatives, voted against Brexit in the referendum.

MPs are unlikely to try to halt Brexit, but they could seek to shape the government’s negotiating mandate with the EU, limiting its room for manoeuvre on issues such as single market and customs union membership.

The government had argued that it could invoke article 50 without parliamentary approval, using royal prerogative, a set of executive powers. The court found, however, that because article 50 triggers an irreversible process leading to Brexit after two years, it overturns the 1972 European Communities Act, which brought the UK into the Common Market.

“The most fundamental rule of the UK’s constitution is that Parliament is sovereign and can make and unmake any law it chooses. As an aspect of the sovereignty of Parliament, it has been established for hundreds of years that the Crown -i.e. the Government of the day – cannot by exercise of prerogative powers override legislation enacted by Parliament,” the court said.

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The government argued that MPs who passed the 1972 act intended that the Crown should retain its prerogative powers to withdraw from the EU treaties. But the court rejected the argument, saying there was nothing in the 1972 act which supported it. And the judges accepted the main argument against the government, that EU membership conferred rights on UK citizens which the government could not remove without parliamentary approval.

Gina Miller, the lead claimant in the case, welcomed the decision.

“You can’t have a government casually throwing away people’s rights, that why we turned to the courts. It was the right decision because we were dealing with the sovereignty of parliament. It was not about winning or losing. It was about what was right. Now we can move forward with legal certainty.”

Ukip leader Nigel Farage said he feared “a betrayal” of June’s referendum decision was at had following the court’s decision.

“I now fear that every attempt will be made to block or delay the triggering of Article 50. If this is so, they have no idea of the level of public anger they will provoke,” he said.